New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) In an attempt to effectively educate themasses about the complexities of communalism, a new graphical accountaddresses this age-old sensitive issue."Communalism Explained! AGraphic Account" penned by Professor Ram Puniyani along with founderof World Comics India, Sharad Sharma, seeks to break the stereotypicalimage of the minority community prevalent in the majoritycommunity."After the Mumbai violence in 1993, there have been manymisconceptions about a particular community.

I felt that people need to be informed about it. Illustrated versionappeals more to people, specially the youth," says Puniyani, who tookvoluntary retirement from IIT-Bombay in December 2004 to work fulltime for communal harmony.Available both in Hindi and English, thebook has been published by World Comics India and Vani Prakashan withsupport from Oxfam India, a rights-based NGO.The book, a graphicalrepresentation in form of myths and reality touches upon history ofcommunalism, values of Gandhi, impact of communalism on weakersections and ways to deal with this problem."There is a lot ofknowledge about communalism in the academic world but we wanted toinform the masses about it.Comical representation made this complexissue lighter which is simple and appeals to eyes and mind of masses,"says Sharad Sharma."It is an attempt to preserve the secular fabric ofthis country and inform the younger generation about this issue.

The question answer form delineates the issues and prompts the readerto think about the topic," says Puniyani.The book also has marginalreference to the state of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh and aseparate chapter on communal politics in India.To make it a nationwidecampaign against communalism, grassroot comics workshops, film showsand discussions will be organised in different cities to mobilise themasses for participation and to help bring out their inner mostvoices."Our work is just a drop in the ocean and the problem at handis too big. The number of people taking this work forward to masses isless but we will do our bit," says Puniyani."Mostly, in such sensitiveissues, people do not get a chance to express their views. We want tochange the direction of information flow - it will be from bottom totop," says Sharma."We will come out with another book on the sameissue which will have graphics made by people themselves," he adds.PTIRKM____________